1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to rectifiers of a vehicle wheel house that is configured to rectify the flow of air in the wheel house housing a wheel.
2. Related Art
In a vehicle such as an automobile, when running wind flows into a wheel house housing a wheel, turbulence is generated in the flow which issues to the outside from the space between an arch and the wheel, and thus the air resistance of the vehicle may be increased.
Thus, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H6-227436 proposes a technique to improve overall vehicle aerodynamic characteristics related to air resistance and lift characteristics by ventilating air from the inside of a wheel house to the outside through an air passage, via which a first opening and a second opening are communicated with each other, the first opening being provided in the wheel house and configured to introduce air, the second opening being provided in the lower surface of the vehicle and configured to discharge air.
However, the technique disclosed in JP-A No. H6-227436 makes the air in the wheel house escape so as to rectify the air flow. Smooth escape of the air flow in the wheel house indicates that running wind is likely to flow into the wheel house physically. For this reason, conversely, an increase in the quantity of the air flow in the wheel house may occur, which is a factor of turbulence.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, in a conventional vehicle 1′, when an air flow Fu flowing from a road surface G under the front of the vehicle increases in a wheel house 3′ housing a wheel 2′, this dominant flow results in a fundamental factor of turbulence. Thus, turbulence is generated in the air flow which issues from the wheel house 3′ to the outside. Consequently, the air resistance of the entire vehicle increases and it is difficult to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle.